In the last two decades, pollution in the river Ganga has become a serious issue, affecting the socio-economic activities and the health of the communities living on the banks and adjacent areas of the river. The impact has been greater on women, because their day-to-day activities for survival are intimately connected with this water resource. The response of the government has been to drastically improve its environmental policies. Social activists on the other hand continued to mobilize civil society in regional protests, which finally led to the beginning of the ‘Save Ganga’ movement. Yet, both the strategies to clean the river pollution have been colossal failures. An analysis was undertaken of various government policies, reports and court judgements on the river’s pollution and a primary survey was done on three sites: Garhwal in Uttarakhand and in Varanasi and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh to gauge the nature of women’s participation in the movements. It was found that there was greater participation by women in the hilly Garhwal region than in the plains of Uttar Pradesh. The research proved that women’s knowledge and experiences in environmental conservation had led to greater sustainability, in contrast to the results of the modern-technocratic approach of state officials and so-called environmentalists. The article seeks to locate the failure of the project of cleaning the river to the lack of gender sensitive environmental policies and insufficient participation of women in ecological activism.

中文翻译：

---

清洁恒河需要什么？抗议和政策视角的性别维度

在过去的二十年里，恒河的污染已经成为一个严重的问题，影响了河岸和邻近地区的社会经济活动和社区的健康。对妇女的影响更大，因为她们为生存而进行的日常活动与这种水资源密切相关。政府的反应是大幅改善其环境政策。另一方面，社会活动家继续在地区抗议中动员民间社会，最终导致了“拯救恒河”运动的开始。然而，这两种清理河流污染的策略都失败了。对有关河流污染的各种政府政策、报告和法院判决进行了分析，并在三个地点进行了初步调查：北阿坎德邦的 Garhwal 以及北方邦的瓦拉纳西和坎普尔，以衡量妇女参与运动的性质。研究发现，与北方邦平原相比，Garhwal 丘陵地区的女性参与度更高。研究证明，女性在环境保护方面的知识和经验导致了更大的可持续性，这与国家官员和所谓的环保主义者的现代技术官僚方法的结果形成鲜明对比。文章试图将清河工程的失败归结为缺乏性别敏感的环境政策和女性在生态行动中的参与不足。研究发现，与北方邦平原相比，Garhwal 丘陵地区的女性参与度更高。研究证明，女性在环境保护方面的知识和经验导致了更大的可持续性，这与国家官员和所谓的环保主义者的现代技术官僚方法的结果形成鲜明对比。文章试图将清河工程的失败归结为缺乏性别敏感的环境政策和女性在生态行动中的参与不足。研究发现，与北方邦平原相比，Garhwal 丘陵地区的女性参与度更高。研究证明，女性在环境保护方面的知识和经验导致了更大的可持续性，这与国家官员和所谓的环保主义者的现代技术官僚方法的结果形成鲜明对比。文章试图将清河工程的失败归结为缺乏性别敏感的环境政策和女性在生态行动中的参与不足。